The State of Costing: what 141 organizations told us about how they really cost.
Between April and July 2026, 141 organizations scored their own cost and profitability maturity through our Profit Check. This is what the data says: where costing is strong, where it quietly breaks, and the one dimension almost everyone gets wrong. The numbers below are real aggregates from those assessments, not a market forecast.
In short
The median organization scores 47 out of 100 on costing maturity, and the mean is 49.2. The weakest dimension of all is cost allocation, at 44.5: companies can see their numbers but do not trust how overhead is spread or use it to decide. 59% score 50 or below. Counter to the usual story, the mid-market outscores both small and large organizations. This is what 141 organizations told us, not the state of the whole market.
Median maturity score out of 100 (mean 49.2).
Cost allocation, the weakest dimension across the whole sample.
of organizations score 50 or below.
There is a pattern in the data that repeats almost everywhere. Organizations can usually see their profit at the top line. What they cannot do is defend how it is built. Ask how indirect cost is assigned to a product, a customer or a channel, and the answer thins out. That is why the single weakest dimension in the whole sample is not visibility or pricing. It is cost allocation: the mechanics of turning shared cost into a number you would put in front of the board.
The six findings below are drawn from 141 self-assessments completed between 26 April and 2 July 2026. Where a subgroup is small, we say so. This is not a representative census of the market; it is an honest read of the organizations that chose to measure themselves.
Allocation is where costing breaks
Average score by dimension, out of 100 (n = 119 to 129 per dimension). Cost allocation is the lowest, followed by strategic decision support. Dashed line marks the 50 midpoint. Source: 141 Profit Check self-assessments, 26 Apr to 2 Jul 2026.
Read as a group, the five dimensions tell a consistent story. Profitability visibility (52.5) and pricing (50.5) sit highest: most organizations can produce a margin and set a price. Tools and governance (49.5) is middling. The two weakest are the two that matter most for a defensible decision: strategic decision support (45.9) and, below everything, cost allocation (44.5). In plain terms, companies see the numbers but neither trust how the overhead was spread nor lean on the model when a real decision is on the table.
The income statement is signed and audited. The allocation underneath it would not survive ten minutes of questions from the board.
The mid-market is not behind. It is ahead.
The comfortable narrative says large enterprises have costing solved and small firms are catching up. The data does not agree. Organizations of 51 to 250 people score highest, at 54.9. Small organizations score 46.2. And the large organizations in this sample score 44.1, the lowest of the three, though with only nine large respondents this is a small group and should be read as a signal, not a verdict. The likely reason is familiar: scale brings legacy systems, more shared cost to allocate and more politics around the allocation, while a focused mid-market team can still see cause and effect clearly.
Healthcare leads, retail and IT services lag
Average score by industry, out of 100, for groups of 13 or more respondents. Dashed line marks 50. Source: 141 Profit Check self-assessments, 26 Apr to 2 Jul 2026.
Healthcare leads at 56.5, likely because patient-level and procedure-level costing has been a discipline there for years; even so, its weakest dimension is pricing (53.3). Professional services (54.8) and manufacturing (53.2) follow. Manufacturing has a distinctive shape: pricing is its strength (57.7) but strategic decision support is its weak point (49.8). They know how to cost the product; they do not yet use the model to decide. At the bottom, retail (44.0) and IT services (42.0) share the same fault line: cost allocation is their weakest dimension, at 34.6 in both. When most of your cost is shared across many small transactions, getting allocation wrong is not a rounding error. It is the whole picture.
- The median organization scores 47 out of 100; the mean is 49.2. Only about 10% score above 75.
- Cost allocation is the weakest dimension of all at 44.5, followed by strategic decision support at 45.9. Visibility is highest at 52.5.
- 59% of organizations score 50 or below.
- The mid-market (51 to 250 people) scores highest at 54.9, ahead of small (46.2) and large (44.1, on nine responses).
- By industry, healthcare (56.5) and manufacturing (53.2) lead; retail (44.0) and IT services (42.0) lag, both weakest in cost allocation at 34.6.
- Manufacturing prices well (57.7) but under-uses costing for decisions (strategic 49.8): a model built and not yet trusted.
What this is, and what it is not
This report is built from a structured 14-question self-assessment, our Profit Check, covering five dimensions: profitability visibility, pricing, cost allocation, strategic decision support, and tools and governance. It ran from 26 April to 2 July 2026 and covers 141 organizations (75 answered in English, 55 in Portuguese, 11 in Spanish). The sample is self-selected: these are visitors who chose to measure their own costing, which most likely skews toward organizations that already suspect they have a problem. It is therefore best read as what 141 organizations told us, not as the state of the whole market. Internal test submissions were removed before any figure was calculated. A small number of early responses used an older dimension format and sit inside the overall score but outside the per-dimension averages, which is why per-dimension counts range from 119 to 129.
We publish the method so the numbers can be read for what they are. We plan to repeat this every six months, so H2 2026 can be compared against this baseline.
Get the report
Download the full State of Costing, H1 2026 as a branded PDF, or find your own score in minutes with the same Profit Check these numbers came from.
Frequently asked
What is the State of Costing report?
An analysis of how 141 organizations scored their own cost and profitability maturity through our Profit Check between 26 April and 2 July 2026. It reports the real aggregate results across five dimensions, by company size and by industry.
What is the average costing maturity score?
The median organization scores 47 out of 100 and the mean is 49.2. 59% score 50 or below, and only about 10% score above 75.
Which part of costing is weakest?
Cost allocation, at 44.5 out of 100, is the weakest dimension across the whole sample, followed by strategic decision support at 45.9. In retail and IT services, allocation falls to 34.6.
Is this a representative market study?
No. It is a self-selected sample of organizations that chose to assess themselves, which likely skews toward those who already suspect a costing problem. We present it as what 141 organizations told us, not as the state of the whole market.
How can I find my own score?
Take the free Profit Check. It runs the same 14-question assessment, scores your five dimensions in minutes, and shows where your single biggest gap is.
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